Believing her competition season was finished, Lacey Henderson left her “running leg” at home last month and went on vacation. First there was a family reunion in Italy, then a trip to Argentina to relax, unwind and forget about the disappointment of failing to make the U.S. Paralympic team at the track and field trials in July.

Little did she suspect she would compete in the Paralympics after all. She got the call when she was in Buenos Aires.

“I get out of the shower and I have all these missed calls and text messages from the team director,” said Henderson, who performed on cheerleader squads at Regis Jesuit High School and the University of Denver with a prosthetic leg before taking up disabled track and field. “They were like, ‘We need you to call us.’ I knew even though I didn’t make the team I was probably next on the list if they needed somebody. I call them back and, sure enough …”

Sure enough, because of the ban against Russian athletes caused by their country’s doping scandal, additional spots opened up for other countries at the Paralympics, which concludes Sunday. Cathy Sellers, high performance director of USA Paralympic Track and Field, called Henderson offering her the chance to compete in Rio.

“I didn’t even say yes at first,” Henderson said. “I was like, ‘Can I call you back?’ I was four days into my four-week vacation in South America. I turned around, went home, got my running leg, did a couple training sessions in Phoenix and went to team processing.”

Henderson, 27, finished eighth in the long jump on Sept. 10. She finished fifth in her heat Saturday morning in the 100 meters and didn’t make the final.

“It’s been so fun,” Henderson said. “It’s so funny the way everything fell into place. I went on vacation, I had a little decompression. Then, here I am. The experience has been absolutely incredible. Village life is great, you have everything you need. It’s ironic because it’s the least prepared I’ve been for an international competition, but it’s the most I’ve enjoyed it. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to be here.”

Henderson’s right leg was amputated just above the knee because of synovial sarcoma when she was 9. She grew up in an athletic family — her father T.J., a longtime local track coach, competed in the pole vault and made it to the Olympic Trials — so she wasn’t coddled after she lost her leg. She’s grateful she wasn’t.

“In the long run it helped me tremendously,” Henderson said. “I still participated in PE, I loved sports, I always was an athlete. I was lucky because my parents just never treated me any different. They were like, ‘Well, you’ve got a fake leg now, you’d better figure out how to use it.’ ”

Two years after her amputation, the movie “Bring It On” made her want to be a cheerleader.

“Of course it was going to be hard, but it’s going to be hard for anybody,” Henderson said. “My struggles, my differences are just different.”

After graduation from DU in 2011 brought an end to her cheerleading career, she found another athletic outlet in track and field. The pole vault is her favorite event but it’s not in the Paralympic program, so she competes in the long jump and 100 meters.

Henderson’s boyfriend, Jeremy Dodson, competed in the 200 meters at the Olympics last month. A former George Washington High School and University of Colorado sprinter, Dodson previously tried to make U.S. Olympic teams but now runs for Samoa, where his mother was born. He failed to advance past the first round in Rio.

“It was my worst race all season,” Dodson said. “Running for a smaller country is way more exhausting than it is to run for the USA. I am their Justin Gatlin. You feel like you’re carrying the inspiration of a whole country on your back. It’s something you can’t really prepare for until you experience it. Although it was a great experience and an exciting experience, it was also an exhausting experience.

“But I got a taste of it, and that’s going to push me for another four years.”

Dodson coached Henderson before they both moved to Phoenix two years ago to join a training group there.

“She came to me to coach her in 2013,” said Dodson, 29. “The fact that she dropped everything just to focus for this Paralympics was a huge point of her character. You could see from the first day she was determined. She was willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish this goal.”

The Post's ski and Olympics writer, Meyer covered his 12th Games last summer in Rio de Janeiro. He has covered five World Alpine Ski Championships and more than 100 World Cup ski events. He is a member of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Colorado Running Hall of Fame. He regularly covers running and the Colorado Rapids.

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